Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ver. 4. Now [before Isaiah was gone out into the middle court] the word of Jehov.ih came unto him, saying. Go [back,] and say unto Hezekiah, thus saith Jehovah the God of David thy father, I have heard thy supplication; I have seen thy tears. Behold [I will heal thee; and on the third day thou shall go up into the house of Jehovah.

Xer. 5. And] I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee, and this city, from the hand of the king of Assyria; and T will protect this city. And [Hezekiah said. By what sign shall I know that I shall go up into the house of Jehovah? ^ Ver. 7. And Isaiah said,] This shall be the sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will bring to effect this word which he hath spoken.

The words in the translation included within crotchets are supplied from the parallel place, 2 Kings xx. 4, 5, to make the narration more perfect. I have also taken the liberty, with Hmihigant, of bringing forward the two last verses of this chapter, and inserting them in their proper places of the narration with the same mark. Kimchi's note on these two verses is as follows; " This and the following verse belong not to the writing of Hezekiah; and I see no reason why they are wTitten here after the wTiting; for their right place is above, after And I will protect this city. ver. 6. And so they stand in the book of Kings," 2 Kings XX. 7, 8. The narration of this chapter seems to be in some parts an abridgment of that of 3 Kings \.x. The abridger, havinsr finished his extract here with the eleventh verse, seems to have observed, that. the seventh and eighth verses of 2 Kings xx. were wanted to complete the narration: he therefore added them at' the end of the chapter, after he had inserted the song of Hezekiah, probably with marks for their insertion in their proper places; which marks were afterwards neglected by transcribers. Or a transcriber might omit them by mistake, and add them at the end of the chapter with such marks. Many transpositions are, with great probability, to be accounted for in the same way.

A'erse 6. / will defend this city.'] The other copy, 3 Kings XX. 6, adds: " for mine own sake, and for the sake of David my serv ant;'' and the sentence seems somewhat abrupt without it.

Verse 8. Which is gone dotvn — " By which the sun is gone down"] For tyotva bashshemesh, the Sepiuagint, Si/riac, and Chaldee read tyou^n hashshcmesh. — Houbigant. In the history of this mir.acle in the book of Kings, (2 Kings xx. 9-11,) there is no mention at all made of the sun, but only of the going backward of the shadow: which might be effected by a supernatural refraction. The first o vjXio?, the sun, in this verse is omitted in the Septiiagint, MS. Pachom.

Verse 9. The u<riting of Hczciiah] Here the book of Kings deserts us, the song of Hezekiah not being inserted in it. Another copy of this very obscure passage (obscure not only from the concise poetical style, but because it is probably very incorrect) would have been of great service. The MS.S. and ancient Versions, especially the latter, will help us to get through some of the many difficulties which we meet with in it Verse 11. The iorrf—" Jehovah"] n' Yah, TV Yah, seems to be niH' Yeho-vah, in M.S. Bodl., and it was so at first wTitten in another. So the Si/riac. See Houbigant. I believe niH" Yehm-ah was the original reading. See the note on chap. xii. 2.

Verse 12. Mine age — is removed from me as a shepherd's tent] "i'l roi is put for n;'"l roeh, say the

Numie Pompiiii, ncss: from day even to night R. Koman., 3. ^^,-jj jj^^^ make an end of me.

13 I reckoned till morning, thai, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself liath done it: I shall go softly all my years " in the bitterness of my soul.

rabbins; {Sal. ben Melee on the place;) but much more probably is wTitten imperfectlj' for D'i'T roim, sliepherds. See note on chap. v. 1.

I shall be removed from this state to another, as a shepherd removes his tent from one place to another for the sake of his flock. Is not this a strong intimation of his belief in a future state 1

I have cut off like a weaver my life — " My life is cut off as by the weaver"] 'rniJP kippadti. This verb is rendered passively, and in the third person, by the Sijriac, Clialdce, and Vulgate.

Verse 13. The last line of the foregoing verse DVO ■jn'Sa'D nVS IJ' miyom ad layelah tashlimeni, " In the course of the day thou wilt finish my web;" or, as the common version has it, " From day ci-en to night wilt thou make an end of me," is not repeated at the end of this verse in the Syriac version; and a MS. omits it. It seems to have been inserted a second time in the Hebrew text by mistake.

/ reckoned till morning, dSfc. — " 1 roared until the morning like the lion"] For •n'\W shivvilhi, the Chaldee has n'nin: nihameith: he read TiJi^K? shaagti, the proper term for the roaring of a lion; often applied to the deep groaning of men in sickness. See Psa. xxii., xxxii. 3, xxx\-iii. 9; Job iii. 24. The Masoretes divide the sentence, as I have done; taking "IXD caari, like a lion, into the first member; and so likewise the

Mine eyes fail] For iSt dallii the Septuagijit read ibD calu, £«eXiirov. Compare Psa. Ixix. 4, cxix. 82, 123; Lam. ii. 11, iv. 17, in the Hebrew and in the

Undertake for me — " Contend for me"] npiy>' ashekah, with V! shin, Jarchi: this sense of the word is established by Gen. xxvi. 20: " He called the name of the well p\i/V esck, because they strove with him:" ipiffi'nn hithasseku, equivalent to U'T yaribu, at the beginning of the verse.

16 0 Lord, by these things %'^ %^if^ men live, and in all these things oiymp. xvi.4.

IS the lite ol my spirit; so wilt Numaj PompiUi, thou recover me, and make R Roman., 3. me to live.

17 Behold pfor peace I had great bitterness: but 1 thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of con-uption: for thou hast cast all my sms behind tliy back.

18 For 'the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: ' the father to the children shall make knov.n thy truth.

Verse 15. I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul — " Through the rest of my years will 1 reflect on this bitterness of my soul"] rmx eddaddeh; recogitabo, Ya\g.,reputabo, Hieron. in loc.

Verse 16. By these things men live — "For this cause shall it be declared"] IIspi auTvjj yap avriyysXi^ (j'oi, xai sgiysiiag (lou t'/)v tvotjv, Sept. They read in their copies 'nil "nni lS HP' H''?;' not very diiferent from the present text, from which all the ancient Versions vary. They entirely omit two words, jn^ SoSl ulecol bahen; as to which there is some variation in the MSS. One MS. has S:321 ubechol, and in all; two others Sjl vechol, and all, and ten MSS. have □n3 bahem, in them, in the masculine gender.

Taking this as in the common Version, we may observe, it is not an unfrequent case, that afflictions, and especially such as tend to a speedy death, become the means, not only of saving the soul, but also of lengthening the life.

Make me to live — " Hast prolonged my life."] A MSS. and the Babylonish Talmud read "JTini vetachayeni, and so the ancient Versions. It must necessarily be in the second person.

Verse 17. For peace I had great bitterness — " My anguish is changed into ease"] "lO ''7 10 mar li mar, " mutata mihi est amaritudo." Paronomasia; a figure which the prophet frequently admits. I do not always note it, because it cannot ever be preserved in the translation, and the sense seldom depends upon it. But here it perfectly clears up the great obscurity of the passage. See Lowth on the place.

Thou hast rescued] nUDTI chashachta, with 3 capi, instead of p koph; so the Septuagint and Vulgate; Houhigant. See Chappelow on Job xxxiii. 18.

Thou hast in love to my soul] npBTI chashakta, " thou hast lovingly embraced" or Idssed " my soul out of the pit of corruption."

20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. 2 1 For ' Isaiah had said, Let them take a

MS. omits Sx el; and instead of Ss el, an ancient MS. and one edition read ns eth. The same mistake as in Psa. ii. 7.

Verse 21. Let them take a lump of Jigs, <}-c.] God, ill effecting this miraculous cure, was pleased to order the use of means not improper for that end. " Folia, et, quae non maturuere, fici, strumis iUiuuntur omnibusque quae emollienda sunt discutiendave." — Plin. Nat. Hist, sxiii. 7. "Ad discutienda ea, qufe in corporis parte aliqua coierunt, maxime possunt — ficus

22 "Hezekiah also had said, "■ '^°°"" ' ^- What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?

arida," &c. — Celsus, v. 1 1. See the note on 2 Kings XX. 7. Philemon Holland translates the passage as a medical man: — " The milke or white juice that the figge tree yieldeth is of the same nature that vinegie: and therefore it will cruddle milke as well as rennet, or rendles. The right season of gathering this milkie substance is before that the figs be ripe upon the tree; and then it must be dried in the shadow; thus prepared, it is good to break impostumes, and keepe ulcer open."

The Babylonish monarch sends letters of congratulation and a present to Hezekiah, on account of his recovery from his late dangerous Illness, 1. The king of Judah shotcs the messengers of Merodach-ialadan all the treasures of his house and kingdom, 2. The prophet takes occasion from this ostentatious display of the king to predict the captivity of the royal family, and of the pevple, by the Babylonians, 3—8.

AT* that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king

present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.

2 *■ And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his "= precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his ^ armour, ^ and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.

3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, Wiat said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?

Hitherto the copy of this history in the second book of Ivings has been much the most correct; in this chapter that in Isaiah has the advantage. In the two first verses two mistakes' in the other copy are to be corrected from this: for in'plD hizkiyahu, read ptn'l vayechezek, and was recovered; and for yoi2"\ vaiyishma, he heard, read rTDWl vaiyismach, he rejoiced.

Verse 1. At that time Merodach-baladan] This name is variously wTitten in the MSS. Berodach, Medorach, Medarech, and Medurach.

come from a far countrvr unto me, Olymp. xvii. i. even from Babylon. Numaj Pompilii,

4 Then said he. What have ^- ''"""'"■■ ^- they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered. All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.

5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts:

6 Behold, the days come, ^that all that is in thine house, and iJiat which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith

7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee,

•Tf Etf^Ei!:; that is, D'ONtoI umalachim, and ambassadors; which word seems to be necessary to the sense, though omitted in the Hebrew text both here and in the other copy, 2 Kings xx. 12. For the subsequent narration refers to them all along, "these men, whence came they V &c.; plainly supposing them to have been personally mentioned before. See Honhigant.

Verse 6. To Babylon] nS^^ bnbdnh, so two MSS., (one ancient;) rightly, without doubt, as the other copy (2 Kings XX. 17) has it. This prediction was fulfilled about one hundred and fifty years after it was spoken: see Dan. i. 2, 3-7. ^^'hat a proof of Divine omniscience!

oiymp.xvii. 1. they take away; aiid ^ they shall Xiiniffip'ompiiii, be cuiiuclis ill the palace of the king of Babylon.

8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, ^ Good

Verse 8. Then said Heze/ciali] The nature of Ilezekiah's crime, and his humiliation on the message of God to him by the prophet, is more expressly declared by the author of the book of the Chronicles: " But Hezelciah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up; therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wraXh of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezelciah. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the which thou hast spoken. He Oij-mp. xvii. i. said moreover, For there shall Numa; Pompiiii. be peace and truth — — ^ ^°'"='°' ' land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26, 30, 31. There shall be peace and truth in my days.] I rather tliink these words should be understood as ari humble inquiry of the king, addressed to the prophet. " Shall there be prosperity, DlSc shalom, and truth in MY days '! — Shall / escape the evil which thou predictest r' Understood otherwise, they manifest a pitiful unconcern both for his own famUy and for the nation. " So / be well, I care not how it may go with others." This is the view I have taken of the passage in 2 Kings xxi. 19. Let the reader judge whether this, or ih.e former, should be preferred. See the concluding notes on 2 Kings xx.

/'■; this cliapier the prophet opens the subject respecting the restoration of the Church with great fnrce and elegance; declaring God's command to his messengers the prophets to comfort his people in their captivity, and to impart to them the glad tidings that the time of fovour and deliverance was at hand, 1, 2. Immediately a harbinger is introduced giving orders, as usual in the inarch of eastern monarchs, to remove every obstacle, and to prepare the way for their return to their oxen land, 3—5. The same words, hotcever, the New Testament Scriptures authorize us to refer to the opening of the Gospel dispensation. Accordingly, this subject, coming once in view, is principally attended to in the sequel. Of this the prophet gives us sufficient notice by introducing a voice commanding another proclamation, which calls off our attention from all temporary, fading things to the spiritual and eternal things of the Gospel, 6—11. And to remove every obstacle in the way of the prophecy in either sense, or perhaps to give a farther display of the character of the Redeemer, he enlarges on the power and tcisdom of God, as the Creator and Disposer of all things. It is impossible to read this description of God, the most subliyne that ever was penned, ivithout being struck with inexpressible reverence and self-abasement. The contrast between the great Jehovah and every thing reputed great in this world, how admirably imagined, hoio exquisitely finished! What atoms and inanities are they all before Him tcho sitteth on the circle of the immense heavens, and views the potentates of the earth in the light of grasshoppers, — those poor insects that wayider over the barren heath for sustenance, spend the day in continual chirpings, and take up their humble lodging at night on a blade of grass! 12-26. The prophet concludes tvith a most comfortable application of the whole, by showing that all this infinite power and unsearchable tvisdom is unweariedly and everlastingly engaged in strengthening, comforting, and saving his people, 27-31.

The course of prophecies which follow, from hence to the end of the book, and which taken together constitute the most elegant part of the sacred WTitings of the Old Testament, interspersed also with many passages of the highest sublimity, was probably delivered in the latter part of the reign of Hezekiah. The prophet in the foregoing chapter had delivered a very e.xplicit declaration of the impending dissolution of the kingdom, and of the captivity of the royal house of

David, and of the people, under the kings of Babylon. As the subject of his subsequent prophecies was to be chiefly of the consolatory kind, he opens them with giving a promise of the restoration of the kingdom, and the return of the people from that captivity, by the merciful interposition of God in their favour. But the views of the prophet are not confined to this event. As the restoration of the royal family, and of the tribe of Judah, which would otherwise have soon become

Oiymp. XVII. 1. in the wilderness, " Prepare ye Nums Pompiiii, the Way of the Lord, ' make R. Roman., 4. g^^^ight in the desert a highway for our God.

undistinguished, and have been irrecoverably lost, was necessary, in tlie design and order of Providence, for the fulfilling of God's promises of establishing a more glorious and an everlasting kingdom, under the Messiah to be born of the tribe of Judah, and of the family of David, the prophet connects these two events together, and hardly ever treats of the former without throwing in some intimations of the latter; and sometimes is so fully possessed with the glories of the future and more remote kingdom, that he seems to leave the more immediate subject of his commission almost out of the question.

Indeed this evangelical sense of the prophecy is so apparent, and stands forth in so strong a light, that some interpreters caimot see that it has any other; and will not allow the prophecy to have any relation at all to the return from the captivity of Babylon. It may therefore be useful to examine more attentively the train of the prophet's ideas, and to consider carefully the images under which he displays his subject. He hears a crier giving orders, by solemn proclamation, to prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; to remove all obstructions before Jehov.\h marching through the desert; through the wild, uninhabited, impassable country. The deliverance of God's people from the Babylonish captivity is considered by him as parallel to the former deliverance of them from the Egyjitian bondage. God was then represented as their king leading them in person through the vast deserts which lay in their way to the promised land of Canaan. It is not merely for Jehovah himself that in both cases the way was to be prepared, and all obstructions to be removed; but for jEHOv.iH marching in person at the head of his people. Let us first see how this idea is pursued by the sacred poets who treat of the e.Kodus, which is a favourite subject with them, and affords great choice of examples: —

"\Mien Israel came out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from the barbarous people; Judah was his sanctuary,

" Jehovah his God is with him; And the shout of a king is among them:

Num. x.xiii. 21, 22. "Make a highway for him that rideth through the deserts: O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, When thou marchedst through the wilderness,

Let us now see how Isaiah treats the subject of the return of the people from Babylon. They were to march through the wilderness \Wth Jehovah at their head, who was to lead them, to smooth the way before

crooked shall be made '" straight, R Roman., 4. and the rough places ' plain:

them, and to supply them with water in the thirsty desert; with perpetual allusion to the exodus: — " Come ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the land of the Chaldeans with the voice of joy: Publish ye this, and make it heard; utter it forth even to the end of the earth; Say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob: They thirsted not in the deserts, through which he made them go; Waters from the rock he caused to flow for them; Yea, he clave the rock, and forth gushed the waters." Chap, xlviii. 20, 21 " Remember not the former things;

And the things of ancient times regard not:" (That is, the deliverance from Egypt:) " Behold, I make a new thing; Even now shall it spring forth; will ye not regard it % Yea, I W"ill make in the wilderness a way; In the desert streams of water."

Chap, xliii. 18, 19. " But he that trusteth in me shall inherit the land, And shall possess my holy mountain. Then will I say; Cast up, cast up the causeway;

make clear the way; Remove every obstruction from the road of my people." Chap. Ivii. 13, 14.

" How beautiful appear on the mountains The feet of the joyful messenger, of him that announceth peace; Of the joyfiU messenger of good tidings, of him that announceth salvation; Of him that saith to Sion, Thy God reigneth! All thy watchmen lift up their voice, they shout together; For face to face shall they see, when Jehovah returneth to Sion. Verily not in haste shall ye go forth; And not by flight shall ye march along: For Jehovah shall march in your front; And the God of Israel shall bring up your rear." Chap. Hi. 7, 8, 12. Babylon was separated from Judea by an iinmense tract of country which was one continued desert; that large part of Arabia called very properly Deserta. It is mentioned in history as a remarkable occurrence, that Nebuchadnezzar, having received the news of the death of his father, in order to make the utmost expedition in his journey to Babylon from Egypt and Pha;nicia, set out with a few attendants, and passed through this desert. Berosus apud Joseph., Antiq. x. 11. This was the nearest way homewards for the Jews; and whether they actually returned by this way or not, the first thing that would occur on the proposal or thought

Oiymp. XVII. 1. shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken ii.

of their return would be the difBculty of this almost impractioable passage. Accordingly the proclamation for the preparation of the way is the most natural idea, and the most obvious circumstance, by which the prophet could have opened liis subject.

These things considered, I have not the least doubt that the return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon is the iirst, though not the principal, thing in the prophet's view. The redemption from Babylon is clearly foretold, and at the same time is employed as an image to shadow out a redemption of an infinitely higher and more important nature. I should not have thought it necessary to employ so many words in endeavouring to establish what is called the literal sense of this prophecy, which I think cannot be rightly understood without it, had I not observed that many interpreters of the first authority, in particular the very learned Vitringa, have excluded it entirely.

Yet obvious and plain as I think this literal sense is, we have nevertheless the irrefragable authority of John the Baptist, and of our blessed Saviour himself, as recorded by all the Evangelists, for explaining this exordium of the prophecy of the opening of the Gospel by the preaching of John, and of the introduction of the kingdom of Messiah; who was to effect a much greater deliverance of the people of God, Gentiles as well as Jews, from the captivity of sin and the dominion of death. And this we shall find to be the case in many subsequent parts also of this prophecy, where passages manifestly relating to the deliverance of the Jewish nation, effected by Cyrus, are, with good reason, and upon undoubted authority, to be understood of the redemption wrought for mankind by Christ.

If the literal sense of this prophecy, as above explained, cannot be questioned, much less surely can the spiritual; which, I think, is allowed on all hands, even by Grotius himself. If both are to be admitted, here is a plain example of the mystical allegory, or double sense, as it is commonly called, of prophecy; which the sacred writers of the New Testament clearly suppose, and according to which they frequently frame their interpretation of passages from the Old Testament. Of the foundation and properties of this sort of allegory, see De S. Po'es. Heir. Prjelect. xi.

Verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye] " The whole of this prophecy," says Kimchi, " belongs to the days of the Messiah."

Verse 2. Douhlefor all her sins — " Blessings double to the punishment."] It does not seem reconcilable to our notions of the Divine justice, which always punishes less than our iniquities deserve, to suppose that God had punished the sins of the Jews in double proportion; and it is more agreeable to the tenor of this consolatorv message to understand it as a promise of ample recompense for the effects of past displeasure, on the reconciliation of God to his returning people. To express this sense of the passage, which the words of the original will very well bear, it was necessary to add a word or two in the version to supply the elliptical expression of the Hebrew. Compare chap. Ixi. 7; Job xlii. 10; Zech. ix. 12. nsDn chattaah signifies punishment for sin. Lam. iii. 39; Zech. xiv. 19. But Kimchi says, " Double here means the two captivities and emigrations sufiered by the Israelites. The first, the Babylonish captivity; the second, that wliich they now endure." This is not a bad conjecture.

Verse 3. The voice of him that crieth in the imlderness — " A voice crieth. In the wUdemess"] The idea is taken from the practice of eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition or took a journey, especially through desert and unpractised countries, sent harbingers before them to prepare all things for their passage, and pioneers to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all impediments. The officers appointed to superintend such preparations the Latins call stratores. Ipse (Johaimes Baptista) se stratorem vocat Messias, cujus esset alta et elata voce homines in desertis locis habitantes ad itinera et vias Regi mox venturo sternendas et reficiendas hortari. — Mosheim, Instituta, Majora, p. 96. " He (John the Baptist) calls himself the pioneer of the Messiah, whose business it was with a loud voice to caU upon the people dwelling in the deserts to level and prepare the roads by which the King was about to march."

Diodorus's account of the marches of Semii-amis into Media and Persia will give us a clear notion of the preparation of the way for a royal expedition; " In her

march to Ecbatana she came to the Zarcean mountain, which, extending many furlongs, and being full of craggy precipices and deep hollows, could not be passed without taking a great compass about. Being therefore desirous of leaving an everlasting memorial of herself, as well as of shortening the way, she ordered the precipices to be digged down, and the hollows to be filled up; and at a great expense she made a shorter and more expeditious road, which to this day is called from her the road of Semiramis. Afterward she went into Persia, and aU the other countries of Asia subject to her dominion; and wherever she went, she ordered the mountains and precipices to be levelled, raised causeways in the plain country, and at a great expense made the ways passable." — Diod. Sic. lib. ii.

The writer of the apocryphal book called Baruc'n expresses the same subject by the same images, either taking them from this place of Isaiah, or from the common notions of his countrymen: " For God hath appointed that every high hUl, and banks of long con tinuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled up, to make even the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God." Chap. v. 7.

The Jewish Church, to which John was sent to announce the coming of Messiah, was at that time in a barren and desert condition, unfit, without reformation, for the reception of her King. It was in this desert country, destitute at that time of all religious cultivation, in true piety and good works unfruitful, that John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord by p-eaching repentance. I have distinguished the parts of the sentence according to the punctuation of the Masoretes, which agrees best both with the literal and the spiritual sense; which the construction and parallelism of the distich in the Hebrew plainly favours, and of whiah the Greek of the Septuagint and of the evangelists is equally susceptible.

John was born in the desert of Judea, and passed his whole life in it, till the time of his being manifested to Israel. He preached in the same desert: it was a mountainous country; however not entirely and properly a desert; for though less cultivated than other parts of Judea, yet it was not uninhabited. Joshua (chap. XV. 61, 62) reckons six cities in it. We are so prepossessed with the idea of John's living and preaching in the desert, that we are apt to consider this particular scene of his preaching as a very important and essential part of history: whereas I apprehend this circumstance to be no otherwise important, than as giving us a strong idea of the rough character of the man, which was answerable to the place of his education; and as affording a proper emblem of the rude state of the Jewish Church at that time, which was the true wilderness meant by the prophet, in which John was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.

Verse 4. Crooked] The word;p;' aiob is very generally rendered crooked: but this sense of the word seems not to be supported by any good authority. Liidolp/ius, Comment, ad Hist. yEthiop. p. 206, says " that in the Ethiopic language it signifies clivus, locus editus.•" and so the Syriac Version renders it in this plac6, SOIJ' arama: Hebrew, iTDV aramah, tumulus, acervus. Thus the parallelism would be more perfect: •' the hilly country shall be made level, and the precipices a smooth plain."

Verse 5. " The salvation of our God."] These words are added here by the Septuagint: to rfuTjj^iov Tou ©sou, irnbs ni'lty' ns eth yesuath Elohcyhu, as it is in the parallel place, chap. lii. 10. The sentence is abrupt without it, the verb wanting its object; and I think it is genuine. Our English translation has supplied the word it, which is equivalent to this addition, from the Septuagint.

This omission in the Hebrew text is ancient, being prior to the Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate Versions: but the words stand in all the copies of the Septuagint, and they are acknowledged by Luke, chap. iii. 6. The whole of this verse is wanting in one of my oldest MSS.

Proclaim"] To understand rightly this passage is a matter of importance; for it seems designed to give us the true key to the remaining part of Isaiah's prophecies, the genera! subject of which is the restoration of the people and Church of God. The prophet opens the subject with great clearness and elegance: he declares at once God's command to his messengers, (his prophets, as the Chaldee rightly explains it,) to comfort his people in captivity, to impart to them the joyful tidings, that their punishment has now satisfied the Divine justice, and the time of reconciliation and favour is at hand. He then introduces a harbinger giving orders to prepare the way for God, leading his people from Babylon, as he did formerly from Egypt, through the wilderness; to remove all obstacles, and to clear the way for their passage. Thus far nothing more appears to be intended than a return from the Babylonish captivity; but the next words seem to intimate something much greater: —

" And thfe glory of Jehovah shall be revealed; And all flesh shall see together the salvation of our God."

He then introduces a voice commanding him to make a solemn proclamation. And what is the import of it T that the people — the flesh, is of a vain temporary nature; that all its glory fadeth, and is soon gone; but that the word of God endureth for ever. What is this, but a plain opposition of the flesh to the spirit: of the carnal Israel to the spiritual; of the temporary Mosaic economy to the eternal Christian dispensation' You may be ready to conclude, (the prophet may be disposed to say,) by this introduction to my discourse, that my commission is only to comfort you with a promise of the restoration of your religion and polit)', of Jerusalem, of the temple, and its services and worship in all its ancient splendour. These are earthly, temporary, shadowy, fading things, which shall soon pass away, and be destroyed for ever; these are not worthy to engage your attention in comparison of the greater blessings, the spiritual redemption, the eternal inheritance, covered under the veil of the former, which 1 have it in charge to unfold unto you. The law has only a shadow of good things; the substance is the Gospel. I promise you a restoration of the former, which, however, is only for a time, and shall be done away, according to God's original appointment: but under that image I give you a view of the latter, which shall never be done away, but shall endure for ever. This I take to be agreeable to St. Peter's interpretation of this passage of the prophet, quoted by him, 1 Pet. i. 24, 25: " All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which bv the Gospel is preached unto you." This is

Oiymp. XVII. 1. tidings, get thee up into the high Num'a; Pomrnii, mountain; i> O Jerusalem, that R. Roman.. 4. i^jirigest good tidings, hft up thy voice with strength; hft it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10 Behold, the Lord God will come i with strong hand, and ' his arm shall rule for him: behold, ^ his reward is with him, and * his work before him.

that are with yoimg. 12'" Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in == a measure, and weighed the moimtains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

the same word of the Lord of which Isaiah speaks, which hath now been preached unto yoa by the Gospel. The law and the Gospel are frequently opposed to one another by St. Paul, under the images of flesh and spirit: " Having begun in the spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh V Gal. iii. 3. — L.

All the goodliness thereof- — " AH its glory"] For llDn chasdo read nn chain,; the Septuagint and Vulgate, and 1 Pet. i. 24.

A'erse 7. The grass withereth] The whole of this verse is wanting in three of Kennicotfs and five of De Rossi's MSS., and in a very correct and ancient MS. of my own, and also in the Septuagint and Arabic.

Surely the people — " A^'erily this people"] So the Syria:, who perhaps read niH TUl'T] haam hazzeh.

Because the spirit of the Lord — " When the wind cf Jehovah"] niD'' mi ruach Yehovah, a wind of Je- HOV.A.H, is a Hebraism, meaning no more than a strong wind. It is well known that a hot wind in the east destroys every green thing. Compare Psa. ciii. 16. Two MSS. omit the word niri' Yehovah, Jehovah.

Verse 9. O Zion, that bringest good tidings — " 0 daughter, that bringest glad tidings to Zion"] That the true construction of the sentence is this, which makes Zion the receiver, not the publisher, of the glad tidings, which latter has been the most prevailing interpretation, wUl, I think, very clearly appear, if we rightly consider the image itself, and the custom and common practice from which it is taken. I have added the word daughter to express the feminine gender of the Hebrew participle, which I know not how to do otherwise in our language; and this is absolutely necessary in order to ascertain the image. For the office of announcing and celebrating such glad tidings as are here spoken of, belong peculiarly to the women. On occasion of any great public success, a signal victor}', or any other joyful event, it was usual for the women to gather together, and with music, dances, and songs, to publish and celebrate the happy news. Thus after the passage of the Red Sea, Miriam, and all the women, with timbrels in their hands, formed a chorus, and joined the men in their triumphant song, dancing, and tlirowing in alternately the refrain or burden of the song: —

" Sing ye to Jehovah, for he is greatly exalted; The horse ind his rider hath he cast into the sea." Exod. XV. 20, 21.

So Jephthah's daughter collected a chorus of virgins, and with dances and songs came out to meet her father, and to celebrate his victory, Judg. xi. 34. After David's conquest of Goliath, " all the women came out of the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instnmients of music;" and, forming themselves into two choruses, they sang alternately: —

And this gives us the true sense of a passage in the sixty-eighth Psalm, which has frequently been misunderstood: — " Jehovah gave the word, (that is, the joyful news,)

And even the matron, who stayed at home, shared the spoil." The vFord signifying the publishers of glad tidings is the same, and expressed in the same form by the feminine participle, as in this place, and the last distich is the song which they sang. So in this place, Jehovah having given the word by his prophet, the joyful tidings of the restoration of Zion, and of God's returning to Jerusalem, (see chap. lii. 8,) the women are exhorted by the prophet to publish the joyful news with a loud voice from eminences, whence they might best be heard aU over the country; and the matter and burden of their song was to be, " Behold your God '." See on Psalm Ixviii. 11.

Verse 10. His reward is with him, and his ivork before him. — " His reward is with him, and the recompense of his work before him."] That is, the reward and the recompense which he bestows, and which he wiU pay to his faitliful servants; this he has ready at hand with him, and holds it out before him, to encourage those who trust in him and wait for him.

Verse 11. Shall gently lead those that are with young — " The nursing ewes shall he gently lead."] A beautiful image, expressing, with the utmost propriety as well as elegance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock. That the greatest care in drivmg the cattle in regard to the dams and their young was necessary, appears clearly from Jacob's apology to his brother Esau. Gen. xxxiii. 13:" The flocks ( H*)

"B.^-.tv.nf 13 y Who hath directed the Oiyrap. xvn. 1. Spirit of the Lord, or heins

Numae Pompilii, ' his Counsellor hatli taught him. °°'"'" 14 With whom took he counsel, and who " instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him tlie way of *■ understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.

1 7 All nations before him are as •= nothing; and ^ they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

and the herds giving suck to their young are with me; and if they should be overdriven, all the flock will die." Which is set in a still stronger light by the following remark of.Sir John Chardin: " Their flocks," says he, speaking of those who now live in the east after the patriarchal manner, " feed down the places of their encampments so quick, by the great numbers that they have, that they are obliged to remove them too often, which is very destructive to their flocks, on account of the young ones, who have not strength enough to follow." Harmer's Observ. i., p. 126.

Verse 16. And Lebanon is not sufficient] The image is beautiful and uncommon. It has been imitated by an apocr3-phal WT:iter, who however co.mes far short of the original: —

" For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto thee: And all the fat is not sufficient for thy burntoffering." Judith xvi. 1 6.

Does not the prophet mean here that all the burntofferings and sacrifices that could be offered were insulBcient to atone for sin? That the nations were as nothing before him, not merely because of his immensity, but because of their insufficiency to make any atonement by their oblations for the iniquities which they had conmiitted? Therefore the Redeemer was to come to Zion, &c.

Verse 19. And castcth silver chains — "And forgcth for it chains of silver."] For ^-Wi tsoreph, the participle, twenty-seven MSS., five ancient, and three editions, read -"jli' Isaraph, pret. third person.

Verse 20. Chooseth a tree that loill not rot] For what! To make a god out of it! The rich we find made theirs of gold and silver; the poor man was obliged to put up with a wooden god! From the words " he that hath no oblation chooseth a tree " we may learn that the gold and silver necessary to make the graven image was first dedica'^d, and then formed

18 To whom then will j'e a.m. dr. 3292. ° liken God? or what likeness oiymp. xvir. i. will ye compare unto him? Nuta=~iiii,

19 'The workman melteth a «■ Roman., 4. graven image, and the goldsmilii spreadeih i. over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

20 He that eis so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot, he seeketh unto him a cunning workman >> to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.

21 'Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 ^ It is he that silteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as

into a god! How stupid is idolatry! Strange that these people did not perceive that there could be no help in these molten and wooden idols!

Verse 2 1. Have ye not known 7] On this verse Kimchi has a very interesting comment, an extract of which I subjoin. " The whole world may be considered as a house built up; heaven its roof; the stars its lamps; and the fruits of the earth its t.^ble spread. The Master of the house is God, blessed for ever; and man is the steward into whose hand all the business of the house is given. If he aKvays consider in his heart that the Master of the house is continually over him, and that he keeps his eye upon his work, and if in consequence he acts wisely, he shall find favour in the eyes of the Master of the house. But if he find wickedness in the house, then will he remove him l.lTpa p min pekidutho, ' from his stewardship.' The foolish steward does not think of this; for as hia eyes do not see the Master of the house, he saith in his heart, ' I will eat and drink what I find in this house, and will take my pleasure in it; nor shall I be careful whether there be a master over this house or not.' When the Lord of the ho\ise marks this, he comes and expels him from the house speedily, and M-ith great anger; therefore it is said, ver. 23, He bringeth the princes to nothing.''' It seems that this parable had been long in use among the Jews,.is our blessed Lord alludes to it in his parable of the unjust steward. Or did the rabbin, finding it to his purpose, steal the parable from ihe Gospel? In both places it has great and peculiar beauties.

Have ye not understood from, the foundations of the earth — " Have ye not understood it from the founda • tions of the earth T'j The true reading seems to be rin:;TD"D mimmosedoth, to answer to iy.-iTD mero.'ih in the foregoing line. It follows a word ending with T mem, and out of tliree mems concurring, it was an easy mistake to drop the middle one.

23 That bringelh the " princes to nothing; my God? he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not

24 Yea, they shall not be planted: yea, they ' heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord,

shall not be sown: yea, theu: stock shall not take root in tlie earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25 " To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold and the young men shall utterly fall;

who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: ° he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

usual in the summer season, and upon all occasions when a large company is to be recelTed, to have the court sheltered from heat or inclemency of the weather by a velum, umbrella, or veil, as I shall call it; which being expanded on ropes from one side of the parapet wall to the other, may be folded or unfolded at pleasure. The psalmist seems to allude to some covering of this kmd in that beautiful expression of spreading out the heavens like a curtain." — Shaw's Travels, p. 274.

Verse 24. And he shall also blow upon them — " And if he but blow upon them"] The Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and MS. Bodl., with another, have CDJ gam, only, without the conjunction 1 vau, and.

Verse 26. Lift itp your eyes on high^ The rabbins say, He who is capable of meditating on the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and does not meditate on them, is not worthy to have his name mentioned among men.

Verse 28. There is no searching of his understanding— " And that his understanding is unsearchable."] Twenty-four MSS., two editions, the Septuagint and Vulgate, read J'Xi veein, with the conjunction 1 vau.

Verse 3 1. They shall mount up with wings as eagles — " They shall put forth fresh feathers like the moult-

ing eagle"] It has been a common and popular opinion that the eagle lives and retains his vigour to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moidts in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth. " Thou shall renew thy youth lilie the eagle," says the psalmist, ciii. 5; on which

the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? p there is no searching of his understanding.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

31 But they that wait upon the Lord '5 shall ' renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

place St. Ambrose notes, AquUa longam setatem ducit, dum, vetustis plumis fatiscentibus, nova pennarum successione juvenescit: — " The eagle lives to a very advanced age; and in moulting his youth is renewed with his new feathers."

PhUe, De Animalibus, treating of the eagle, and addressing himself to the emperor Michael Palaeologus junior, raises his compliment upon the same notion; —

" Long may'st thou live, 0 king; stUl like the eagle Renew thy youth, and still retain thy vigour."

To this many fabulous and absurd circumstances are added by several ancient writers and commentators on Scripture; see Bochart, Hieroz. ii. ii. 1. Rabbi Saadias says. Every tenth year the eagle flies near the sun; and when not able any longer to bear the burning heat, she falls down into the sea, and soon loses her feathers, and thus renews her vigour. This she does every tenth year tiU the hundredth, when, after she has ascended near the sun, and fallen into the sea, she rises no more. How much proof do such stories require! Whether the notion of the eagle's renewing his youth is in any degree well founded or not, I need not inquire; it is enough for a poet, whether profane or sacred, to have the authority of popular opinion to support an image introduced for illustration or ornament.— L.

The prophet, having intimated the deliverance from Babylon, and the still greater redemption couched under it, resumes the subject. He begins with the Divine vocation of Abraham, the root of the Israel itish family, and hts succes.\ful erptoits against the idolaters, 1-7. He then recurs to the Babylonish captivity.

and encourages the seed of Abraham, the friend of God, not to fear, as all their enemies would be ultimately suidued under them, 8—16; nnd evert/ thing furnished necessary to refresh and comfort them in their passage homewards through the desert, 17-20. The prophet then lakes occasion to celebrate the prescience of God, from his knowledge of events so very distant, as instanced in the prediction concerning the messengei of glad tidings which should be given to Jerusalem to deliver her from all her enemies; and challenges the idols of the heathen to produce the like proof of their pretended divinity, 2 1-27. liut they are all vanity, and accursed are they that choose them, 28, 29.

2 M'ho raised up ■> the righteous man " from the east, called him to his foot, ^ gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword,

3 He pursued them, and passed Num* Pom™iiii, "= safely; even by the way that R- Roman., 4. he had not gone with his feet.

4 'Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the ^ first, and with the last; I am he.

Verse 1. Keep silence before me, O islands — " Let the distant nations repair to me with new force of mind"] Eyxaivi^sff^s, Septuagint. For IBf'tnn hacharishu, be silent, they certainly read in their copy Itynnn hachadishu, be renewed; which is parallel and synonj-mous with no IsSn' yechalephu coach, " recover their strength;" that is, their strength of mind, their powers of reason; that they may overcome those prejudices by which they have been so long held enslaved to idolatry. A MS. has in har, upon a rasure. The same mistake seems to have been made in this word, Zeph. iii. 17. For ir\;nN3 jy'in' yacharish beahabnlho, silebit in dilectione sua, as the Vulgate renders it; which seems not consistent with what immediately follows, exultabit super te in laude; the Septuagint and Syriac read in^nsi 'iS"\XV yachadish beahabatho, " he shall be renewed in his love." 'Ss elai, to me, is wanting in one of De Rossi^s MSS. and in the Syriac.

Verse 2. The righteous man] The Chaldee and Vulgate seem to have read p'TS tsaddik. But Jerome, though his translation has juslum, appears to have read pli" tsedek; for in his comment he expresses it \)y justum, sive justitiam. However, I think aU interpreters understand it of a person. So the Septuagint in MS. Pachom. sxaksiiev aurov, " he hath caDed him;" but the other copies have auTr)v, her. They are divided in ascertaining this person; some e.^plain it of Abraham, others of Cyrus. I rather think that the former is meant; because the character of the righteous man, or righteousness, agrees belter with Abraham than with CjTus. Besides, inmiediately after the description of the success given by God to Abraham and his posterity, (who, I presume, are to be taken into the account,) the idolaters are introduced as greatly alarmed at this event. Abraham was called out of the east; and his posterity were introduced into the land of Canaan, in order to destroy the idolaters of that country, and they were established there on purpose to stand as a barrier against the idolatry then prevailing, and threatening to overrun the whole face of the earth. Cyrus, though Bot properly an idolater or worshipper of images, j-et had nothing in his character to cause such an alarm among the idolaters, ver. 5—7. Farther, after having just touched upon that circumstance, the prophet with great ease returns to his former subject, and resumes Abraham and the Israelites; and assures them that as God had (jailed them, and chosen them for this purpose, he would uphold and support them to the utmost, and at length give them victory over all the heathen nations, their enemies; ver. 8-16. Kimchi is of the same mind, and gives the same reasons.

He gave them as the dust to his sword — " Hath made them like the dust before his sword"] The image is strong and beautiful; it is often made use of by the sacred poets; see Psa. i. 4; xxxv. 5; Job xxi. 18, and by Isaiah himself in other places, chap. xvii. 13; xxix. 5. But there is great difficulty in making out the construction. The Septuagint read D:nn CPiyp kashtam, charbam, their sioord, their bow, understanding it of the sword and bow of the conquered kings: but this is not so agreeable to the analogy of the image, as employed in other places. The Chaldee paraphrast and Kimchi solve the difficulty by supposing an ellipsis of 'J-jS liphney before those words. It must be owned that the ellipsis is hard and unusual: but I choose rather to submit to this, than, by adhering with Vitringa to the more obvious construction, to destroy entirely both the image and the sense. But the Vulgate by gladio ejus, to his sword, and arcui ejus, to his bow, seems to express 13inS lecharbo, to his sivord, and IjTj'p'? lekashto, to his boio, the admission of which reading may perhaps be thought preferable to KimchCs

Verse 3. And. passed safely — " Hepasscth in safety"] The preposition seems to have been omitted in the text by mistake; the Septuagint and Vulgate seem to have had it in their copies; sv Ei^vyVij, in pace, On'C/Z beshalom, " prosperously." It is so in one of De Rossi's MSS.

6 ^ They helped every one his

7 '' So the carpenter encouraged the ^ goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer "> him that smote the anvil, " saying, It is ready for the soddering: and he fastened it with nails, ° that it should not be moved.

8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have ^ chosen, the seed of Abraham my 1 friend.

9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee. Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee

10 'Fear thou not; ^ for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

1 1 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ' ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and " they that strive with thee shall perish.

12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even "' them that contended with thee:

13 For I the Lord thy God "^ ^°"""'' *■ will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, '^Fear not; I will help thee.

14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye ''men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 Behold, ^ I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having ^ teeth: thou shalt tliresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

16 Thou shalt '"fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and "= shalt glory in the Holy One of

1 7 When the jjoor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, / the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 1 will open ^ rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the " wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

TomTO. \ and by the Vulgate, hccc; and by the Chaldee, j'7X elin; all of the same meaning.

Verse 5. Were afraid — " And tliey were terrified"'] Three MSS. have mn'l vaii/echeridii, adding the conjugation 1 vau, which restores the second member of the sentence to its true poetical form.

Verse 7. That it should not be moved — "That it shall not move."] Five MSS., (two ancient,) and the ancient Versions, add the conjunction 1 vau, " and," reading «'71 veto, " and not," which seems to be right.

Verse 9. And called thee from the chief men thereof— " And called from the extremities thereof"] VsN n''7''i'X0 alsil meatsileijha, signifies the arm, axilla, ala; and is used like ^;D canaph, " the wing," for any thing extended from the extremity of another, or joined on to it. It is here parallel with and synonymous to mvprD miMatsoth, " from the ends," in the preceding member.

Verse 10. Be not dismayed — yncn 4x1 veal tishta, ' AND be not dismayed." The 1 vau is added by twentyone of Dr. KcnnicotCs M8.S., thirty of De Rossi's, and

A'erse 14. Fear not,.thou tvorm Jacob] In the rabbinical commentary on the five books of Moses, Yelamedenu, it is asked, Why are the Israelites called a ivorm? To signify, that as the worm does not smite, that is, gnaw the cedars, but with its mouth, which is very tender, yet it nevertheless destroys the hard wood; so all the strength of the Israelites is in prayer, by which they smite the wicked of this world, though strong like the cedars, to which they are compared, Ezek. xxxi. 3.

Verse 15. A new sharp threshing instrmnenl having teeth — " A threshing wain; a new corn-drag armed with pointed teeth"] vSee note on chap, xxviii. 37, 28.

Thou shalt thresh the mountains'] Mountains and hills are here used metaphorically for the Idngs and princes of the Gentries. — Kimchi.

Verse 19. / will plant in the wilderness the cedar} The two preceding verses express God's mercy to them in their passage through the dry deserts, in supplying

20 fTliat they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

21" Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

22 *■ Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may ' consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.

23 ^ Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, ' do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

2-1 Behold, "" ye are " of nothing, and your work ° of naught: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

them with abundant water, when distressed with thirst, in allusion to the excdus. This verse expresses the relief aflbrded to them, tainting with heat in their journey through that hot country, destitute of shelter, by causing shady trees, and those of the tallest and most beautiful kinds, to spring up for their defence. The apocryphal Baruch, speaking of the return from Babylon, expresses God's protection of his people by the same image: " Even the woods and every sweetsmelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God." Chap. v. 8.

The oil tree] This, Kimchi says, is not to be understood of the olive tree, for the olive is distinguished, IS'eh. viii. 1 5; hut it means the pine or fir, from which pilch is extracted.

Verso 20. And con.<:ider'\ The verb irD'!?' i/asinui, without 3'? leb added, cannot signify to apply the heart, or to attend to a thing, as Houbigant has observed; he therefore reads ^^^J^ yashshemu, they shall wonder. The conjecture is ingenious; but it is much more probable that the word 2h leh is lost out of the text; for all the ancient versions render the phrase to the same sense, as if it were fully expres.sed, dS 13'K/" yasimu leh; and the Chaldee rfenders it paraphrastically, yet still retaining the very words in his paraphrase, tllf'l |in:!^ 7;' \'^hm vi.ihawun dechalti al lebehon, " that they may put my fear in their heart." See also ver. 22, where the same phrase is used.

Verse 2 1. Bring forth your strong reasons — " Produce these your mighty powers"] " Let your idols come forward which you consider to be so very strong." Hieron. in loc. I prefer this to all other interpretations of this place; and to Jerome^s own translation of it, which he adds immediately after, A&lte, si quid forte habctis. " Bring it forward, if the north, and he shall come: oiymp. xvii. i. from the rising of the sun p shall Numai Pompiiii. he call upon my name: <» and he "' '^°'"''"- *■

26 ' Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say. He is righteous? yea, thei-e is none that showeth, yea, thei-e is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.

27 ^ The first ' shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

28 " For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could ^ answer a word.

29 " Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

haply ye have any thing." The false gods are called upon to come forth and appear in person; and to give evident demonstration of their foreknowledge and power by foretelling future events, and exerting their power in doing good or evil.

Verse 23. That ice may he dismayed, and hehold it together — " Then shall we be struck at once with admiration and terror."] The w'ord NIJl venere is written imperfectly in the Hebrexo text; the Masoretes supply n he at the end; and so it is read in twenty- <K,'0 MSS. and ybi«- editions; that is, nx'^Jl venireh, and we shall see. But the true reading seems to be NTJl vcnira, and we shall fear, with " yod suppl'ed, from NT yara.

Verse 24. Your work of naught — " Your operation is less than naught"] For >'3X'D meepha, read SiJNT meephes; so the Chaldee and Vulgate. A manifest error of the text; compare chap. xl. 17. The rabbins acknowledge no such error, but say that the Ibrmer word signifies the same with the latter, by a change of the two letters D samech and;.' ain. — Sal ben Melee in loc.

Verse 25. 7 hare raised np one from the north] " That is," says Kimchi, " the Messiah. The king of Assyria placed the ten tribes in Chalach and Chabar by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Modes, 2 Kings xvii. 6, which lands lie northerly and ea.sterly."

He shall come upon princes — " He shall tramjile on princes"] For S3' yaho, Le Clerc reads D3' yehcs, from the Chaldee, who seems to read both words. " Forte legend. D3'l vaiyebes vel D"3"l'l vaiyirmos: seqnilur 0." " This should perhaps be read d:3''1 vaiyebes, or D*3T1 vaiyirmos: a D samech follows." — Seeker. See Nah. iii. 14.

but, instead of this, one of my aost ancient MSS. has D3"12T dtbreychem. Tlie metning is nearly the same: but in this reading this MS. is singular.

Verse 27. The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them — " I first to Zion gave the word, Behold they are here"] This verse is somewhat obscure by the transposition of the parts of the sentence, and the peculiar manner in which it is divided into two parallel lines. The verb at the end of the sentence belongs to both parts; and the phrase, Behold, they are here! is parallel to the messenger of glad tidings; and stands like it, as the accusative case to the verb. The following paraphrase will explain the form and the sense of it. " I first, by my prophets, give notice of these events, saying. Behold, they are at hand! and I give to Jerusalem a messenger of glad tidings."

Verse 28. Among them — " Among the idols"] For nSsOl umeelleh, I read D'Sx":! umeellim, with the Septuagint, xai aro ruv ei^uXuv, " and from or among the idols." See E.xod. xv. 1 1; Isa. Ivii. 5.

R. D. Kimchi has many good observations on this chapter. Bishop Lototh follows him in applying it to Abraham, and not to Cyrus; the whole being spoken in the past tense, which is not used, or rarely, in such a case for the future. Almost the whole of the rabbins understand it of Abraham. On Ki?nchi^s plan, the following is a paraphrase.

The righteous man — ^Abram, from the east — the land of his nativity, called the land of the children of the east. Gen. xxix. 1.

Brought him to his feet — Whithersoever his feet went, he preached righteousness and truth; as it is written, " There he proclaimed in the name of Jehovah," Gen. xxi. 31. And he caUed it insip'" vaiyikraehu — that is, pnX tsedek, righteousness, to his feet, enabled him to hold it forth wherever he went.

He called the nations — To leave their idols, and worship him who made the universe. He taught them the way of righteousness, truth, and faith. Was there ever a prodigy like to this? A man who had been an idolater, rising up against all the nations of the earth, reproving their faith, and not fearing before them nor their kings: Who stirred up his heart to do this % Was it not the Lord 1

Gave the nations before him — And made him rule over kings — Chedorlaomer, and the kings which were with him; whom the Lord gave as dust to his sword, and stubble to his bow.

He passed safely — Dl'^ty shalom for Dl7iy3 heshalom, in safety; so said, because he lost not one of his men in this expedition. See Kimchi.

7%e prophet sets forth the meekness of Messiah^s character, and the extent and blessings of his kingdom, particularly among the Gentiles, 1—9. In consequence of this he calls on the whole creation to join him in one so7)g of praise to God, 10—12. After which he seems again to glance at the deliverance from the captivity; although the words may full as ivell apply to the deliverance vouchsafed to the Church; to the overthrow of her most powerful enemies; and to the prevalency of true religion over idolatry and error, 13—17. The prophet then reproves the Jews for their blindness and infidelity in rejecting the Messiah, and gives intimations of those judgments which their guilt would draw on them, 18—25.

TJEHOLD ^ my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul '' delighteth; ■= I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

The prophet, having opened his subject with the preparation for the return from captivity at Babylon, and intimated that a much greater deliverance was covered under the veil of that event, proceeded to vindicate the power of God, as Creator and disposer of all things; and his infinite knowledge, from his prediction of future events, and in particular of that deliverance. He went still farther, and pointed out the instrument by which he should effect the redemption of his people the Jews from slavery; namely, a great conqueror, whom he would call forth from the north and the east to

2 He shall not cry, nor lift "^^ ^^ ^j,''?jf ' up, nor cause his voice to be Olymp. xvii. i.

says the Chaldee. St. Matthew has applied it directly to Christ; nor can it with any justice or propriety be applied to any other person or character whatever.— L.

NOTES ON CHAP. XLH. Verse 1. Behold my seivant, whom I uphold] 13 "l^nx ethmach bo, on whom I lean. Alluding to the custom of kings leaning on the arm of their most beloved and faithful servant. All, both Jews and Cliristians, agree, that the seven first verses of this chapter execute his orders. In this chapter he proceeds to the j belong to Christ. Now, as they are evidently a congreater deliverance; and at once brings forth into full tinuation of the prophecy in the preceding chapter, that view, without throwing any veil of allegory over the I prophecy cannot belong to Cyrus, but to Christ, subject, the Messiah. " Behold my servant, Messiah," | He shall brins forth judgment to the Gentiles — " He 168 ^J J ^

'^B^cllr?!?' ° quench: he shall bring forth Oijmp XVII. i judgment unto truth. Nurna Pompiiii, 4 He shall not fail nor be "• ^°°"'°' *■ f discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: ^ and the isles shall wait for his law.

5 Thus saith God the Lord, ''he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; ' lie that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; ^ he that giveth breath imto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

6 ' I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, ■" and give thee for a covenant of the jieople, for " a light of the Gentiles;

7 ° To open the bhnd eyes, to p bring out the prisoners from the prison, atid them that

shall publish judgment to the nations"] Four MSS. two ancient, add the conjunction BS^Dl vemishpat. See Matt. xii. 18.

The word aSW!^ mishpat, judgment, like nplX tsedahah, righteousness, is taken in a great latitude of signification. It means rule, form, order, model, plan; rule of right, or of religion; an ordinance, institution; judicial process, cause, trial, sentence, condemnation, acquittal, deliverance, mercy, &c. It certainly means in this place the law to be published by Messiah, the institution of the Gospel.

Verse 4. He shall not fail nor be discouraged — " His force shall not be abated nor broken"] Rabbi Meir ita citat locimi istum, ut post VIT yaruts, addat inu cocho, rohur ejus, quod hodie non comparet in textu Hebrso, sed addendum videtur, ut sensus fiat planior. " Rabbi Meir cites this passage so as to add after yiT' yaruts iniD cocho, his force, which word is not found in the present Hebrew text, but seems necessary to be added to make the sense more distinct." Capell. Crit. Sac. p. 382. For which reason I had added it in the translation, before I observed this remark of Capellus. — L.

A''erse 6. A covenant of the people — " A covenant to the people"] For □!' am, two M.SS. of Dr. KennicotCs, and of my own, read aSli' olam, the covenant of the age to come, or the everlasting covenant; which seems to give a clearer and better sense. But I think the word n"13 herith, here, should not be translated covenant, but covenant sacrifice, which meaning it often has; and undoubtedly in this place. This gives a still stronger and clearer sense.

8 I am the Lord: that is my Numaj Pompiiii, name: and my ' glorj^ will I not RK"""^.'*' give to another, neither my praise to graven unages.

9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I teU you of them.

10? Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ' ye that go down to the sea, and " all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.

1 1 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

Averse 8. / am the Lord] niiT' 'JN ani Yehovah. This is the famous tetragrammaton, or name of four letters, which we WTite Jehovah, Yehovah, Yehveh, Yeveh, Jhuh, Javah, &c. The letters are Y H U H. The Jews never pronounce it, and the true pronunciation is utterly unknown.

Verse 10. Ye that go down to the sea] This seems not to belong to this place; it does not well consist with what follows, " and the fulness thereof." They that go down upon the sea means navigators, sailors, traders, such as do business in great waters; an idea much too confined for the prophet, who means the sea in general, as it is used by the Hebrews, for the distant nations, the islands, the dwellers on the seacoasts all over the world. I suspect that some transcriber had the 23d verse of Psalm cvii. running in his head, nVJN3 Q'H mi" yoredey haiyam hooniyoth, and wrote in this place Q"n 'TIV yoredey haiyam instead of □"n □jn'' yiram haiyam, or y'T yari, or p" yaran; " let the sea roar, or shout, or exult." But as this is so difl^erent in appearance from the present reading, I do not take the Uberty of introducing it into the trans-

lation. Conjeceram legendum ITJ' yegidu, ut ver. 12; sed non favent Versiones. " I would propose to read ITJ' yegidu, as in ver. 12; but this is not supported by the Versions." — Seeker.

Verse 11. Let the wilderness] The most uncultivated countries, and the most rude and uncivilized people, shall confess and celebrate with thanksgiving the blessing of the knowledge of God graciously imparted to them. By the desert is meant Arabia Deserta; by the rocky country, Arabia Petraea; by the mountains, probably those celebrated ones, Paran, Horeb, Sinai, in the same country; to which also belonged

A.M. cir. 3292. j2 Let them give glory unto Oymp. XVII. 1. the Lord, and declare his praise

a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, "^ yea, roar; he " shall prevail against his enemies.

14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and '^ devour at once.

and hills, and dry up all their herbs; Oiymp. xvii. i and I will make the rivers islands, Numa? Pompilii and I will dry up the pools. Roman., 4.

16 And I will bring the blind b}' a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness liglit before them, and crooked things ^ straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

1 7 They shall be ^ turned back, they shall

Kedar, a clan of Arabians, dwelling for the most part in tents; but there were others of them who inhabited or frequented cities and villages, as may be collected from this place of the prophet. Pietro delta Valle, speaking of the people of Arabia Deserta, says: " There is a sort of Arabs of that country called Maedi, who with their herds, of buifaloes for the most part, sometimes live in the deserts, and sometimes in cities; from whence they have their name, which signifies wandering, going from place to place. They have no professed houses; nor are they properly Bedaui, or Beduui, that is, Deserticoli, who are the most noble among them, and never abide within walls, but always go wandering through the open country vfith their black tents; nor are they properly called Hhadesi, as they call those who dwell in cities, and lands with fixed houses. These by the latter are esteemed ignoble and base; but both are considered as of low condition." Viaggi, Parte III. lett. ii.

The inhabitants of the roc¥\ They who dwell in fortified places. The Vulgate has habitatores Petro'a', " the inhabitants of Arabia Petraja." Those who make the rock Jesus Christ, the inhabitants of the rock, true believers in him; the singing, rejoicing for the salvation they have received; abuse and disgrace the passage and the pulpit. I have heard a clergyman, a magistrate, a justice of the quorum, spend an hour in showing from these words, 1. That they meant Jesus Christ, and none other. 2. That he might be fully compared to a rock, as the foundation on which his Church was built, and on which all true believers rested for their salvation. 3. A rocik, because of his strength and might in destroying his enemies, and supporting his friends. 4. A refreshing rock, like that in the wilderness; and that rock was Christ.- 5. A perspective rock, from which true believers could discover their heavenly inheritance: " ^Vhen my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I," &c. Now all this is true in itself; but false in respect to the words on which it was professedly built, for they have no such meaning.

Verse 14. I have been still — "Shall I keep silence for ever"] After oSli'O meolam, in the copy which the Septuagi7it had before them, followed the word DtIJ'^H haleolam, idi'^foda. av' aiwvoc" Mt; xai asi o'lOJWis'oixar according to MSS. Pachom. and i. D. ii. and Edit. Complut.; which word,!:D'71i'''n haleolam, has been omitted in the text by an easy mistake of a transcriber, because of the similitude of the word preceding. Shall I always keep silence? like that of Juvenal: Semper ego auditor tantum 1 Shall I alivai/s be a hearer only?

Verse 15. / ivill make the rivers islands — "I will make the rivers dry deserts"] Instead of 0"X iyim, islands, read □"S tsiim; a. very probable conjecture of Hovhigant.

so written as it is in the text, means " thou wilt do," in the second person. The Masoretes have indeed pointed it for the first person; but the •> yod in the last syllable is absolutely necessary to distinguish the first person; and so it is written in forty MSS., QTl'iyi' asithim.

Jarchi, Einichi, Sal. hen Melee, &c., agree that the past time is here put for the future, "H'iJ'J;' asithz for nByi'**; md indeed the context necessarily requires that interpretation. Farther it is to be oaserved that D'JT'IJ'J' asithim is put for DD^ 'TV'ti'i' asithi lahem, " I have done them," for " I have done for them;" as 'JiTiyj' asitheni is for '7 'n'tyj' asiti Ii, " I have made myself," for " I have made for myself," Ezek. xxix. 2; and in the celebrated passage of Jephthah's vow. Judges xi. 31, tHyJ inTI'Si'm t>eheelitihu ola/i for nSu' 'h TI^'^l'D heelithi lo olah, " I will offer him a burnt-oifering," for " I will offer unto him (that is, unto Jehovah) a burnt-offering;" by an ellipsis of the preposition of which Buxtorf gives many other examples, Thes. Grammat. lib. ii. 17. See also note on chap. Ixv. 5. A late happy application of this grammatical remark to that much disputed passage has perfectly cleared up a difficulty which for two thousand years had puzzled all the translators and expositors, had given occasion to dissertations without number, and caused endless disputes ainong the learned on the question, whether Jephthah sacrificed his daughter or not; in which both parties have been equally ignorant of the meaning of the place, of the.state of the fact, and of the very terms of the vow; which now at last has been cleared up beyond all doubt by my!ea.rned

19" Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant?

20 Seeing many things, '' but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.

21 The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make ■= it honourable.

22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; ^ they are all of them snared in holes, and they

23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear ^ for the time to come?

24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto liis law.

25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: s' and it hath set him on fire round about, '' yet he knew not; and ' it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

friend Dr. Randolph, Margaret Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, in his Sermon on Jephthah's Vow, Oxford, 1766.— L.

Verse 19. As my messenger that / sent — "As he to wliom 1 have sent my messengers"] nWs OsSoJ kemalachcy eshlach, ut ad quem nuncios meos misi. The Vulgate and Chaldee are almost the only interpreters who render it rightly, in consistence with the rest of the sentence, and in perfect agreement with the Hebrew idiom; according to which the ellipsis is to be thus supplied: nSi'X On'73 '>S0:^2 kelaasher malacherj eshlach; " As he to whom I have sent my mes.sengers."

As he that is perfect — " As he who is perfectly instructed"] See note on chap. xliv. 2.

And blind as the Lord's servant — "And deaf, as the servant of Jehovah"] For "ii;?! veivver, and blind, we must read lyini v^cheresh, and deaf: xuipo?, Symmachus, and so a MS. The mistake is palpable, and the correction self-evident, and admissible though there had been no authority for it.

Verse 20. Seeing many things — " Thou hast seen indeed"] The text has jT31 n'NT railh rahith, which (he Masoretes in the marginal Keri have corrected to rm niXT reoth rahboth; as indeed one hundred and seven MSS., and_/?t'e editions, now have it in the text. This was probably the reading of most of the MSS. of their time; which, though they approved of it, out of some superstition they would not admit into their standard text. But these wretched critics, though they perceived there was some fault, yet did not knovv where tlie fault lay, nor consequently how to amend it; and yet it was open enough to a judicious eye: " r\UT rabboth, sic veteres; et tamen forte legendum, niNT reoth, vide cap. vi. 9." — Seeker. That is, niNT jTST raith reoth, seeing, thou shall see. I believe no one will doubt of admitting this as the true reading.

For J>at!'' yishma, read j'otJ'n tishma, in the second person; so all the ancient Versions and forty MSS. of KennicotCs, (four of them ancient,) and seventeen of De HossiU, and perhaps five more. Tico others have l;,'Otyn tishmeu, second person plural.

Verse 2^1. He will magnify the laic — "He hath e.xalted his own praise"] For miH torah, the law, the Septuagint read miH todah, praise.

Verse 22. They are all of them snared in holes — " All their chosen youths are taken in the toils"] For ni3n hapheach read inilin huphachu, in the plural number, hophal; as IS^nn hochbau, which answers to it in the following member of the sentence. Le Clcrc, Houhgant. niin huppach, Seeker.

Verse 24. We have sinned — " They have sinned"] For UNtan chatanu, " we have sinned," first person; the Septuagint and Chaldee read ISOn chateu, "they have sinned," in the third person.

Verse 25. The fury of his anger — " The heat of his wrath"] For DOn chammah, the Bodl. MS. has non chammath, in regimine, more regularly.

It hath set him on fire round about] So thoroughly hardened are the Jewish people, that they are represented as being in a house on fire, and even scorched with the flames, without perceiving their danger, or feeling that they are hurt! What a picture of mental induration! and this is their state to the present day. But by whom shall Jacob arise 1 for in this sense he is small indeed. Many efforts have been made to Christianize them, but without effect; and is this to be wondered at, while we tell them how great they are, how learned, how wise, how much we owe to them, that thev are still the peculiar people of God, &.C., &c.? If all this be true, what can they gain by becoming Christians! Whereas a more stupid, proud, hardened, ignorant people can scarcely be found in the civilized world, and they are most grossly ignorant of their own Scriptures.

Prediction of that blessed period when God should gather the posterity of Abraham, t:ith tender care, from their several dispersions in every quarter under heaven, and bring them safely to their own land, 1-7. Struck with astonishment at so clear a display of an event so very remote, the prophet again challenges all the blinded nations and their idols to produce an instance of such foreknowledge, 8, 9; and intimates that the Jews should remain, (as at this day,) a singular monument to witness the truth of the prediction, till it shoidd at length be fulfilled ly the irresistible power of God, 10-13. He then returns to the nearer deliverance— that from the captivity of Babylon, 14, 15; with lohich, however, he immediately connects another deliverance described by allusions to that from Egypt, but represented as much more wonderful than that; a character which will not at all apply to the deliverance from Babylon, and must therefore be understood of the restoration from the mystical Babylon, 16-18. On this occasion the prophet, with peculiar elegance, and ly a very strong poetic figure, represents the tender care of God in comforting and refreshing his people on their way through the desert, to be so great as to make even the wild beasts haunting those parched places so sensible of the blessing of those copious streams then provided by him, as to join their hissing and howling notes with one consent to praise God, 19—21. This leads to a beautiful contrast of the ingratitude of the Jews, and a vindication of God's dealings with regard to them, 22-28.

"DUT now thus saith the Lord " that created thee, 0 Jacob,

•■and he that formed thee, 0 Israel. Fear not: ■= for I have redeemed thee, '' I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

2 " When thou passest through the waters, f I will he with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou s walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neitlier shall the flame kindle upon

3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: ^ I gave Egypt

Verse 1. I have called thee by thy name'] " 'riNIp ipVZ karalhi bcshimcha. So alJ the Versions. But it seems from the seventh verse, and from the thing itself, that we should read 'Diy3 yriNip karathicha bishmi, ' I have called thee by my name;' for this form of.speech often occurs — the other never. For

my sight, thou hast been honoura- R- R"""*^- *■ ble, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy ' life.

5 '' Fear not: for I a7/i with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

6 I will say to the north. Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;

7 Even every one that is ' called by my

which he was diverted by carrying the war against the Egyptians, Cusheans, and Sabeans; but of this I think he has no clear proof in history. It is not to be wondered at that many things of this kind should remain very obscure for the want of the light of history, which in regard to these times is extremely deficient.

chap. xlv. 24, concerning Cyrus, is another matter; might they not be given for releasing the Jewsl It but when God calls Jacob Israel, he calls him by the j seems to have been so from chap. xlv. 14." — Seeker. name of God. See Exod. xxxi. 2." — Seeker. Kimchi refers all this to the deliverance of Jerusa-

Verse 3. / gave Egypt for thy ransom] This is: lem from the invasion of Sennacherib. Tirhakah, commonly supposed to refer to the time of Sennache-; king of Ethiopia, had come out to war against the ribs invasion; who, when he was just ready to fall j king of Assyria, who was thereupon obliged to raise upon Jerusalem, soon after his entering Judea, was the siege of Jerusalem. Thus the Ethiopians, Egypprovidentially diverted from that design, and turned tians, and Sabeans were delivered into the hands of his arras against the Egyptians, and their allies the I the Assyrians as a ransom for Israel. — Kimchi. I can- Cushean Arabians, with their neighbours the Sabeans, not help thinking this to be a very rational solution of probably joined with tliern under Tirhakah. See chap. [ the text.

tx. and chap, xxxvii. 9. Or as there are some reasonable objections to this opinion, perhaps it may mean mote generally that God has often saved his people at the expense of other nations, whom he had, as it were in their stead, given up to destruction. Vitringa explains this of Shalmaneser's designs upon the kingdom of Judea after he had destroyed that of Samaria, from

Verse 7. Every one that is called by my name] All who worship the true God, and are obedient to his laws.

For my glory] Ten MSS., three ancient, and the Synac and Vulgate, read nuj'? licabodi, without the conjunction 1 van, and.

9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: p who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say. It is truth.

10 1 Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, ' and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: ^ before me there was ' no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

I have formed him] Y?nT yetsartiv. I have given him that particular form and shape which are best suited to hi.s station in life.

I have made him.] Vn'typ asithiv. I have adapted him to the accomplishment of my counsels and designs.

Verse 8. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes — " Bring forth the people, blind, although they have eyes"] I understand this of the Gentiles, as the verse following, not of the Jews. Their natural faculties, if they had made a proper use of them, must have led them to the knowledge of the being and attributes of the one true God; " for his eternal power and Godhead," if well attended to, are clearly seen in his works, (Rom. i. 20,) and would have preserved them from running into the foUy and absurdity of worshipping idols. They are here challenged to produce the evidence of the power and foreknowledge of their idol gods; and the Jews are just afterwards, ver. 10, appealed to as witnesses for God in this cause, therefore these latter cannot here be meant by the people blind with eyes and deaf with ears.

Verse 9. Who among them] Seven MSS., three ancient, and the first edition, 1486, with the Syriac and Vulgate, read CJD2 bechem, who among you; the present reading is preferable.

Verse 10. Ye (the Israelites) are my witnesses — and my servant (the prophet) whom I have chosen, that whatever has been said before concerning Sennacherib has been literally fulfilled. The prophet had predicted it; the Israelites saw it accomplished.

Before me there was no God fanned, neither shall there be after me.] This is a most difficult place. Was there a time when God was not 1 No! Yet he says, before me. Will there be a time in which God will not exist? No! Yet he says, after me. Are not all these words to be referred to his creation 1 Before me, no god created any thing, nor was there any fhing pre-existent but myself. And after me, i. e., after my creation, such as now exists, there shall be no other class of beings formed. This mode of inter-

12 I have declared, and have « R"-""" ■ ■*■ saved, and I have showed, when thei'e ivas no ' strange god among you: '^ therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.

13^ Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall y let ^ it?

14 Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; for your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their ^ nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

pretation frees the passage from all embarrassment, and the context perfectly agrees with it. The words my servant, in this verse, the Targum understands of the Messiah.

Verse 12' / have declared, and have saved] My prophets have always predicted your deliverances before they took place; and 1 have fulfilled their words to the uttermost.

Verse 14. The Chaldeans, ivhose cry is in the ships — " The Chaldeans exulting in their ships."] Babylon was very advantageously situated both in respect to commerce, and as a naval power. It was open to the Persian Gulf by the Euphrates, which was navigable by large vessels; and being joined to the Tigris above Babylon by the canal called Naharmalca or the Royal River, supplied the city with the produce of the whole country to the north of it, as far as the Euxine and Caspian seas, Herod, i. 194. Semiramis was the foundress of this part also of the Babylonian greatness. She improved the navigation of the Euphrates, Herod. i. 184; Strabo, lib. xvi.; and is said to have had a fleet of tliree thousand galleys, Huet, Hist, du Commerce, chap. xi. We are not to wonder that in later times we hear little of the commerce and naval power of Babylon: for, after the taking of the city by C)rrus, the Euphrates was not only rendered less fit for navigation by being on that occasion diverted from its course and left to spread over the whole country; but the Persian monarchs, residing in their own country, to prevent any invasion by sea on that part of their empire, purposely obstructed the navigation of both the rivers by making cataracts in them, Straho, ib., that is, by raising dams across the channel, and making artificial falls in them, that no vessel of any size or force could possibly come up. Alexander began to restore the navigation of the rivers by demolishing the cataracts upon the Tigris as far up as Seleucia, Arrian. lib. vii., but he did not live to finish his great designs; those upon the Euphrates still continued. Ammianus, xxiv. 1, mentions them as subsisting in his time.

■> makelh a way in the sea, and ' a path in the mighty waters;

17 Which '' bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the anny and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are e.xtinct, they are quenched as tow.

18 " Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a ' new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? e J will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the ^ owls ': because '' I give waters in tiie wilderness, aiid rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

The prophet therefore might very justly speak of the Chaldeans as glorying in their naval po\ver in his time; though afterwards they had no foundation for making any such boast.

A''erse 19. Behold, I will do a new thing] At ver. 16, the prophet had referred to the deliverance from Egypt and the passage through the Red Sea; here he promises that the same power shall be employed in their redemption and return from the Babylonish captivity. This was to be a new prodigy.

Verse 20. The beast of the field shall honour me — " The wild beast of the field shall glorify me "] The image is elegant and higUy poetical. God will give such an abundant miraculous supply of water to his people traversing the dry desert in their return to their country, that even the wUd beasts, the serpents, the ostriches, and other animals that haunt those arid regions, shall be sensible of the blessing, and shall break forth into thanksgiving and praises to him for the unusual refreshment which they receive from his so plentifully watering the sandy wastes of Arabia Deserta, for the benefit of his people passing through them.

Verse 22. But thou hast not called upon me] The connexion is: But thou, Israel, whom 1 have chosen, whom 1 have formed for myself to be my witness against tlie false gods of the nations; even thou hast revolted from me, hast neglected my worship, and hast been perpetually running after strange gods. The emphasis of this and the following parts of the sentence, on which the sense depends, is laid on the words me, on Mv.-vccouNT, &c. The Jews were diligent in performing the e.vternal services of religion; in ofTerind

22 But thou hast not called ^- ^°'"""- ^- upon me, 0 Jacob; but thou ""hast been weary of me, 0 Israel.

23 " Thou hast not brought me the ° small cattle of thy burnt-offerings; neither hast thou lionoured rae with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.

24 Thou hast bougiit me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou p filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast 1 wearied me with thine iniquities.

25 I, even I, am he that 'blotteth out thy transgressions ' for mine own sake, ' and w^ill not remember thy sins.

prayers, incense, sacrifices, oblations; but their prayers were not offered with faith; and their oblations were made more frequently to their idols than to the God of their fathers. The Hebrew idiom excludes with a general negative, in a comparative sense, one of two objects opposed to one another: thus, " I will have mercy, and not sacrifice," Hos. vi. 6. " For I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices; but this thing 1 commanded them, saying, Obey my voice," Jer. vii. 22, 23. And the meaning of this place of Isaiah seems to be much the same with that of Amos; who however has explained at large both parts of the comparison, and specified the false service opposed to the true: —

" Have ye offered tmto me sacrifices and offerings, tin the w'ilderness forty years, O house of Israel? Nay, but you have borne the tabernacle of your

The star of your god, which you made to yourselves." Amos V. 25, 26.

But thou hast been weary of me, O Israel — " Neither on my account hast thou laboured, 0 Israel."] For r^^y '3 hi yagata, the Septuagint and Vulgate read n^'J'l veyagata. — Houbigant. The negative is repeated or referred to by the conjunction 1 vau; as in many other places. See note on chap. x.xiii. 4.

Verse 25. I, even I, am he] The original is extremely abrupt: Nin "JJN "DJN anochi anochi hu, •' I, I, He." Is there any mystery in this form? Does it refer to a plurality of persons in the Godhead!

For mine oion sake] In the pardon of sin God can draw no reason but from his own infinite goodness.

Verse 27. Thy first father hatlt sinned] On this Kimchi speaks well: " How can)'e say that ye have not sinned, seeing your first father, Adam, sinned; and man hath sin impressed on him through natural generation 1"

Verse 28. / have profaned the princes of the sancluarij — " Thy princes have profaned my sanctuary "] Instead of 'ir ^"70X1 vaachallel sareij, read yV\S ibSn'l vayechalelu sareycha. So the Syriac and Septuagint, xai sjxiavav oi apj^ovTJj ret ayia (Aoo, " the rulers have defiled my holy things." "jynp kodshi, Houbigant. Oi ap5(ovTEc: rfoj, " thy rulers," MSS. Pachom. and i. D. II and Marehal.

To reproaches — " To reproach "] DSnj'? ligeduphah, in the singular number; so an ancient MS. and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. And, alas! what a curse do they still bear, and what reproach do they still suffer! No national crimes have ever equalled those of the Jewish nation, for no nation ever had such privileges to neglect, despise, sin against. Wlien shall this severity of God towards this people have an end? Answ. Whenever, with one heart, they turn to him, and receive the doctrine of the Lord Jesus; and not till then.

This chapter, besides promises of redemption, of the effusion of the Spirit, and success of the Gospel, 1-3, sets forth, in a very sublime manner, the supreme power and foreknoioledge, and absolute eternity, of the one true God; and exposes the folly and absurdity of idolatry loiih admirable force and elegance, 6-20. And to show that the knowledge of future events belongs only to Jehovah, ivhmn all creation is again called to adore for the deliverance and reconciliation granted to his people, 21-23, the prophet concludes icith setting in a very strong point of view the absolute impotence of every thing considered great and insurmotmcable in the sight of men, when standing in the way of the Divine counsel; and mentions the future deliverer of the Jewish nation expressly by name, nearly two hundred years before his birth, 24—28.

TTET now hear, " O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen. 2 Thus saith the Lord that made thee, ''and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, 0 Jacob, my servant; and thou, ■= Jestrrun, whom I have chosen.

Verse 2. Jesurun] Jeshurun means Israel. This name was given to that people by Moses, Deut. xxxii. 15; x.xxiii. 5, 26. The most probable account of it seems to be that in which the Jewish commentators agree; namely, that it is derived from itJ'' yashar, and signifies upright. In the same manner, Israel, as a people, is called oSiyn meshullam, perfect, chap. xlii. 19. They were taught of God, and abundantly furnished with the means of rectitude and perfection in his service and worship. Grotius thinks that pity yeshurun is a diminutive of SsiB'" yishrael, Israel; expressing peculiar fondness and affection; ItfrariXiSiov, O little Israel.

Verse 4. They shall spring up as among the grass — " They shall spring up as the grass among the waters"] TSn "33 bebeyn chatsir. " They shall spring up in

3 For I will upon him that i upon

floods upon the dry ground: Numse Pompihi, I will pour my spirit upon thy R- Roman., 4. seed, and my blessing tipon thine offspring:

4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

the midst of, or rather, in among, the grass." This cannot be right: eleven MSS., and thirteen editions, have I'33 kebeyn, or pD keben. Twenty-four MSS. read it without the •■ yod, p3 heben, in the son of the grass; and so reads the Chaldee; p3 beben, in the son of the grass. Twenty-four MSS. of Dr. KennicotCs, thirty-three of De RossCs, and one of my own, with six editions, have this reading. The Syriac, |'33 7nibbcyn. The true reading is in all probability "33 kebeyn; and the word O'D mayim, wliich should h.ive followed it, is lost out of the text: but it is happily supplied by the Septuagint; uj ava ^.sim iiSaro;, as among the water. " In every place where there is water, there is always grass; for water makes every thing grow in the east." Sir John Chardin^s note on 1 Kings xvii. 5. Harmer's Observations, oijmp. XVII. 1. Lord s; and another shall call Numje Po'rafSii, Mmsclf by the name of Jacob; R. Roman., 4. ^^^ another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and siuname himself by the name of Israel.

6 Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, " and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts; ' I am the first, and I am the last: and beside me there is no God.

7 And s who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them.

Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord — " This shall inscribe his hand to Jehov.\h "] Kai e-TS|oj e<iyj)a.-^si j^jipi (p^sipa, Aq., Sym.) auTou, Tou ©Sou SifAr "And another shall write upon his hand, I belong to God." — Sept. They seem to have read here, as before, 'JN niD'b laihovah ani, I belong to Jehovah. But the repetition of the same phrase without any variation is not elegant. However, they seem to have understood it rightly, as an allusion to tlie marks, which were made by punctures rendered indelible, by fire or by staining, upon the hand or some other part of the body, signifying the state or character of the person, and to wliom he belonged. The slave was marked with the name of his master; the soldier, of liis commander; the idolater, with the name or ensign of his god; ^Tiyixa-ra siriypaipofASva 5ia tuv fl'rjaTEuofjiEvojv sv Taij j^Eptfiv " Punctura! inscriptions made by the soldiers on their hands." Aetius apud Turnebmn Advers. xxiv. 12. Victuris in cute punctis milites scripti et matriculis inserti jurare solent. " The soldiers having indelible inscriptions on their skin, and inserted in the muster-rolls, are accustomed to make oath." Vigetius, ii. 5. And the Christians seem to have imitated this practice, by what Procupius says on this place of Isaiah: To Ss TH XEIPI, Sia. <ro rfri^t-iv igug ^oXXouff £ffi xapTTwv, 7) /3paj('iovuv, ■») TOU ffrau^ou to CjjfAJiov, ij Tjjv XfitfTOu T^otfrjyopiav. "Because many marked their wrists, or their arms, with the sign of the cross, or with the name of Clurist." See Rev. xx. 4; Spencer, De Leg. Hebr. lib. ii., cap. 20.